6.0 A time to learn
Currently in developed countries, many mothers have little experience of caring for babies and children before they have their own first child. Health education is an important role for health professionals. Antenatal education and postnatal support significantly increases the incidence of breastfeeding initiation and exclusive breastfeeding to six months.1
How to provide education effectively
The perinatal period is filled with so many new experiences for women, and postnatal hospitalisation is short, therefore it is important to target educational interventions effectively. It is not effective to just give educational materials, either antenatally or postnatally, without a discussion with the mother of their contents.
Asking people direct questions about how they learn leads towards four primary processes being involved in an overlapping way.
These can be summarized as follows:
- wanting to learn (motivation, thirst for knowledge)
- learning by doing (practice, trial and error)
- learning from feedback (midwife/nurse's comments, seeing the results)
- digesting (making sense of what has been learned)
Asking people further questions about where and when they learn reveals that most people consider they learn best:
- at their own pace (allow plenty of time for questions, return demonstrations, etc)
- at times and places of their own choosing (privacy may be important, or when less tired)
- often with other people around, especially fellow learners (a group of new mothers, or her partner)
- when they feel in control of their learning
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![]() | ![]() Workbook Activity 6.1Complete Activity 6.1 in your workbook. | ![]() |
Individuals also have an inclination to a preferred style of learning experience.
- Auditory learners use their sense of hearing as their primary means of absorbing information eg. discussions, hearing of others' experiences, story telling.
- Visual learners relate to pictures, demonstrations, videos and written materials.
- Kinesthetic (kinaesthetic) learners like activities which involve them fully eg. practicing the skill taught, return demonstrations, etc.

Two pregnant woman learn about positioning using dolls.
Photograph © S.Cox, IBCLC
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![]() | ![]() Clinical applicationEducational materials should be presented in a variety of formats. For example: To teach a mother how to position and latch her baby to the breast
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Postnatal education
When all the information required to be covered in Step 3 and Point 3 (see 3.0 Pregnancy Care) is covered during the prenatal period, the emotion-laden postnatal period can be used more effectively for
- practical help - eg. positioning, latching, breast expression
- educational messages about feeding patterns, maintaining exclusive breastfeeding, baby behavior, recognizing abnormalities, and
- psychological support.
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![]() Learning happens best when...
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What should I remember?
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Self-test quiz
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Notes
- # Su LL et al. (2007) Antenatal education and postnatal support strategies for improving rates of exclusive breast feeding: randomised controlled trial